HBO, the network of “Hard Knocks,” is at Penn State this week to produce a similar behind-the-scenes look, with or without the investment tips. Penn State’s episode of “24/7 College Football” will air Wednesday, four days after Penn State’s homecoming game against Purdue.

HBO arrives in State College at the right time. The Lions are 4-0, feeling confident after a 59-0 victory over Maryland and have a roster full of personalities to share with the country. Coach James Franklin said that such a show had been proposed for several years before Penn State agreed this was the right time.

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“A few years ago, obviously we were in a different point as a program,” Franklin said. “Where our locker room is at right now, our chemistry, our depth, recruiting, our staff, it’s just that I think we are at a good place right now and we can handle it.”

An HBO crew is embedded in State College this week, which Franklin said hasn’t been much different than the in-house crew that provides content for WPSU and Penn State’s social media channels. Players said they’re used to having cameras around anyway, so the additional crew hasn’t been much different.

But those cameras work under Penn State’s athletic-department umbrella and know what’s off-limits. Their production is meant to promote the program. HBO, meanwhile, is producing a four-part documentary series that intends to capture the in-season life of four college programs, including Florida, Arizona State and Washington State.

Bo Mattingly, executive producer of 24/7 College Football, said that the series intends to take the “Hard Knocks” format to college football, though in a different way. “Hard Knocks,” which follows one professional team through training camp, generates much of its drama through player cuts.

With this series, 24/7 College Football will focus on how each team prepares for its upcoming game. Still, Mattingly said on ESPN’s The Sporting Life podcast, real-time drama will follow. In fact, Mattingly told host Jeremy Schaap that fans should expect to see “amazing moments, I think, every bit as good as what you’ll find in Hard Knocks.”

For Penn State, that was both enticing and cautionary. Franklin said that offering fans a “peek behind the curtain” helped drive the decision to participate, but the program required some guardrails before agreeing.

“Obviously Penn State wouldn’t agree to do something like this if we weren’t completely comfortable with all the details and specifics of it,” Franklin said. "So that was this thoroughly vetted on the front end and [we] had great discussions. And so far, they have been great partners.

“But yeah, I think you know Penn State. We are fairly conservative, and you know, we’re going to be very diligent on the front end of looking at those things.”

That said, Franklin and Penn State ultimately found that the show would offer an opportunity to sell not only the football program but also the university. Franklin, in his sixth season at Penn State, recruits around-the-clock. He visited recruits during the bye week and left to attend high-school games soon after Penn State returned from Maryland early Saturday morning.

If there’s a chance to pitch the program to a wider audience, Franklin will take advantage of it.

“We’ve got just such a wonderful university here and program and history and traditions and obviously the community and the type of support that we get,” Franklin said. “I want to make sure that everybody in the United States knows how special this place is. And to be able to have somebody like HBO, that has tremendous expertise in doing this, to be able to peek behind the curtain and allow people maybe a more comprehensive review of how we do things, I think is important.”

As for the “Hard Knocks” elements, Franklin said to expect some of them — within reason.

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“Yeah, I think there will be some ‘Hard Knocks’ aspects to this,” Franklin said. “I don’t know if it will be as colorful.”